Intra-Operative Adductor Canal Blocks
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- Where
- Canada1 site in 1 countryChoose a country to see its sites
- Trial code
- Status
- Completed
- People taking part
- 200 people enrolled
- Started
- 22 Mar 2023
- Ended
- 28 Dec 2025
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- aACB
- sACB
- Record updated
- 27 May 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 19 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Male and female patients aged 18 years or older
- Primary TKA booked as SDD
- Diagnosis of osteoarthritis
Who cannot take part
- Any use of opioid pain medication within four weeks of the index procedure(13)
- Allergy to analgesic medications
- History of cirrhosis
- History renal insufficiency
- Inability or refusal to sign informed consent form
- Non-English or French speaking, and no licensed translator, family member or substitute decision maker available
- Non-osteoarthritis primary diagnosis
- Contraindication to spinal and/or regional anaesthesia
- Pain catastrophizing scale score ≥16 (8, 9, 14)
- History or sensory and/or motor neuropathy to the ipsilateral limb
- Simultaneous, bilateral TKA
- Non-TKA prosthesis
- Scheduled for non-SDD TKA
- Preoperative varus/valgus of >10 degrees
- Planned General Anaesthetic
- Use of Intrathecal Morphine
This trial has no sites in United States.
It has sites in one country. Choose a country to see its sites.
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Adductor canal blocks (ACB) have been recommended in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) to provide better control of post-operative pain, facilitate early ambulation, and reduce length of stay in the hospital. ACB is typically done before surgery by an anesthesiologist, which may increase time per case, cost, and requires the specialized skills of an anesthesiologist trained in regional anesthesia. Recent studies have suggested that surgeons can safely and reliably administer the adductor canal blocks (sACB) during surgery. However, there is currently very limited data on the clinical efficacy of such sACBs, and no studies assessing this technique in the context TKA that are discharged the same day. As such, this randomized control trial (RCT) is being done to compare sACBs to conventional anesthesiologist-performed adductor canal blocks (aACB).
The 2 groups in the trial
- Anesthesiologist-Performed Adductor Canal Block (aACB)Existing treatment, for comparison
Patients will get a pre-operative adductor canal block performed by an anesthesiologist.
Treatment: aACB
- Surgeon-Performed Adductor Canal Block (sACB)Treatment being tested
Patients will get an intra-operative adductor canal block performed by the surgeon
Treatment: sACB
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Surgeon-performed, Intraoperative Adductor Canal Blocks in Same-Day Discharge Total Knee Arthroplasty
- Record updated
- 27 May 2026